Thursday, 6 October 2016

Namur and the Fete de Wallonie

On 17 September RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a Saturday morning guided tour of the historic city of Namur. Assembling promptly in front of the city's main train station outside the Namur's Centre d’Information Touristique we were led around the Walloon capital's streets and alleyways by our favourite city guide: Sarah Strange.

Sarah Strange is a very experienced tour guide, author, and poet, and took us on a two-hour promenade through the centre of the city, viewing all the main sites such as the theatre, town hall, belfry, cathedral, Church of St Loup, as well as past museums and market places. There were also views of the famous citadel.

For added entertainment our tour coincided with the climax of the annual Fêtes de Wallonie festival so the city was parading Walloons including the traditional Giants, dancers, samba bands and medieval troops amongst others as our pictures attest. However this meant that there was plenty of entertainment and cultural events for us to take in during the afternoon including the delight that is Peket - the local juniper eau de vie that seems to fuel the Festival in Namur!

As ever Sarah's tour was both informative and entertaining and she also booked a restaurant for lunch, the Etna, for us. Altogether a very fine day out in the late summer sunshine.

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About Me

The Belgium section of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) was established in 1989. It has around 120 professional members in Belgium and an extensive list of 'Friends of RSC Belgium'. The section organises lectures, visits and social events with a principal objective of promoting the chemical sciences to the public.